Putting together the pieces of myself, poem by Suvojit Banerjee (Self-Portrait Poetry Series)

Putting together the pieces of myself
by Suvojit Banerjee

A little boy
wistfully star-gazing on a night, and seeking
warmth from the farthest corners of the
universe; the hapless man
standing amidst the heat-haze
of a city crowded with faces
unknown, and talking
to a cat,
thinking it will lead him to love.
A shy, timid creature
who’s Dorian Gray at self-love,
yet knee-weak for that toddler
and its toothless smile.
A romantic who dwells
on the hypocrisies of seeking infinity
in finite, flesh-and-blood
Little pieces of stardust
fall from the sky
while stars tinkle, and they become
Tiny droplets of love
trickle down through the mountains
and manifest unto
One by one
faces come, faces fade
bucketful of memories,
images in a million mirrors;
They become
me.

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: My creative process is mainly based upon observations and then me trying to put those random, haphazard things into orderly lines of words and meaningful sentences. Living in a cosmopolitan city has certain benefits, as through my daily activity to work and back, I can observe many individuals busy in their own chores. My work, from time to time, also gets influenced by other writers and their amazing works.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Suvojit Banerjee‘s work reflects searching-for-answers moments and changes that he sees his city go through every single day. His work has been published in a several online magazines. He currently works in a software company, but writes his heart out every chance that he gets. He lives in India.

IMAGE: “Starry Night” by Alex Ruiz. Prints available at fineartamerica.com. Visit the artist at conceptmonster.net.

who knows if the moon’s, poem by e.e. cummings

who knows if the moon’s
by e.e. cummings

who knows if the moon’s
a balloon,coming out of a keen city
in the sky—filled with pretty people?
(and if you and i should

get into it,if they
should take me and take you into their balloon,
why then
we’d go up higher with all the pretty people

than houses and steeples and clouds:
go sailing
away and away sailing into a keen
city which nobody’s ever visited,where

always
            it’s
                   Spring)and everyone’s
in love and flowers pick themselves

Photo: “Hollywood Moon” by Barbara Linkevitch, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Halley’s Comet, poem by Stanley Kunitz

HALLEY’S COMET
by Stanley Kunitz 

Miss Murphy in first grade
wrote its name in chalk
across the board and told us
it was roaring down the stormtracks
of the Milky Way at frightful speed
and if it wandered off its course
and smashed into the earth
there’d be no school tomorrow.
A red-bearded preacher from the hills
with a wild look in his eyes
stood in the public square
at the playground’s edge
proclaiming he was sent by God
to save every one of us,
even the little children.
“Repent, ye sinners!” he shouted,
waving his hand-lettered sign.
At supper I felt sad to think
that it was probably
the last meal I’d share
with my mother and my sisters;
but I felt excited too
and scarcely touched my plate.
So mother scolded me
and sent me early to my room.
The whole family’s asleep
except for me. They never heard me steal
into the stairwell hall and climb
the ladder to the fresh night air.
Look for me, Father, on the roof
of the red brick building
at the foot of Green Street—
that’s where we live, you know, on the top floor.
I’m the boy in the white flannel gown
sprawled on this coarse gravel bed
searching the starry sky,
waiting for the world to end.
***
“Halley’s Comet” appears in The Collected Poems: Stanley Kunitz (W. W. Norton & Company, 2000)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Stanley Kunitz (1905-2006) became the tenth Poet Laureate of the United States in the autumn of 2000. Kunitz was ninety-five years old at the time, still actively publishing and promoting poetry to new generations of readers. In the New York Times Book Review, Robert Campbell noted that Kunitz’s selection as poet laureate “affirms his stature as perhaps the most distinguished living American poet.”Atlantic Monthly contributor David Barber cited Kunitz as “not only one of the most widely admired figures in contemporary poetry but also, rarer still, a true ambassador for his art.” (Read more at poetryfoundation.org.)

PHOTO: Halley’s Comet, NASA (1986)

NOTE: Halley’s Comet is a “periodic” comet and returns to Earth’s vicinity about every 75 years, making it possible for a human to see it twice in his or her lifetime. The last time it was here was in 1986, and it is projected to return in 2061. The comet is named after English astronomer Edmond Halley, who examined reports of a comet approaching Earth in 1531, 1607 and 1682. He concluded that these three comets were actually the same comet returning over and over again, and predicted the comet would come again in 1758.  (Read more at space.com)

The Star Splitter, poem by Robert Frost

THE STAR SPLITTER (Excerpt)
by Robert Frost

“You know Orion always comes up sideways.
Throwing a leg up over our fence of mountains,
And rising on his hands, he looks in on me
Busy outdoors by lantern-light with something
I should have done by daylight, and indeed,
After the ground is frozen, I should have done
Before it froze, and a gust flings a handful
Of waste leaves at my smoky lantern chimney
To make fun of my way of doing things,
Or else fun of Orion’s having caught me.
Has a man, I should like to ask, no rights
These forces are obliged to pay respect to?”
So Brad McLaughlin mingled reckless talk
Of heavenly stars with hugger-mugger farming,
Till having failed at hugger-mugger farming,
He burned his house down for the fire insurance
And spent the proceeds on a telescope
To satisfy a lifelong curiosity
About our place among the infinities…

…Read “The Star Splitter” by Robert Frost in its entirety at poetryfoundation.org.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Robert Lee Frost (1874-1963) was one of the most popular and critically respected American poets of the twentieth century. He received four Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry and was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 1960 for his poetical works. (Read more at wikipedia.org.)

Sky Bear, Mohawk Indian Legend

SKY BEAR
Mohawk Indian Legend

Long ago,
three hunters and their little dog
found the tracks of a giant bear.
They followed those tracks
all through the day
and even though it was almost dark
they did not stop, but continued on.
They saw that bear now, climbing up
a hill, which glittered with new-fallen snow.
They ran hard to catch it,
but the bear was too fast.
They ran and they ran, climbing
up and up until one of the hunters said,
“Brothers, look down.”
They did and saw they
were high above Earth.
That bear was Sky Bear,
running on through the stars.
Look up now
and you will see her,
circling the sky.

…from THE EARTH UNDER SKY BEAR’S FEET: Native American Poems of the Land, a storybook for children 4-8 by Joseph Bruchac, with illustrations by Thomas Locker (Puffin, 1998), available atAmazon.com.

Autumn Haiku, by Matshu Basho

AUTUMN HAIKU
by Matsuo Basho

a strange flower
for birds and butterfly
the autumn sky.

who knows if the moon’s, poem by e.e. cummings

who knows if the moon’s
by e.e. cummings

 

who knows if the moon’s
a balloon,coming out of a keen city
in the sky—filled with pretty people?
(and if you and i should

get into it,if they
should take me and take you into their balloon,
why then
we’d go up higher with all the pretty people

than houses and steeples and clouds:
go sailing
away and away sailing into a keen
city which nobody’s ever visited,where

always
            it’s
                   Spring)and everyone’s
in love and flowers pick themselves

Photo: “Hollywood Moon” by Barbara Linkevitch, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

June Moon, Poem by Daniel McGinn

JUNE MOON
by Daniel McGinn

Today was sheltered
in a marine layer, we waded through
a sea without shadows.

Today I made a donation
for the funeral of a friend
killed by a drunk driver.

Tonight I watched a mouse escape from my dog.
I watched pink feet and black fur blur across concrete.
Tonight I saw the moon
poke its head out from the clouds
a black mist began rising up like a cape
to cover the chin, the lips, the teeth…

Lori asked me,
Does the moon always show us the same face
or does it sometimes show us other faces?
I don’t know, I said and we marveled
at how clouds had misshapen the moon’s skull.
It looked dented and pockmarked.
It looked like it had been kicked
and kicked repeatedly.

Feral kittens under my house began to yowl.
My dog ran zigzags
and barked and barked and barked.
A mouse squeezed her body into a hole in a brick wall,
a tight passage, small as a pencil spine,
then the mouse was gone.

No lights twinkled.
The moon turned dark as a dime
dropped down a slot.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Daniel McGinn’s work has appeared in the OC Weekly, Next Magazine, and other publications. His full-length collection of poems, 1000 Black Umbrellas, is available from Write Bloody Press. He is currently a student in the low-residency MFA program at Vermont College of Fine Arts. He and his wife are natives of Southern California. They have three children, five grandchildren, and a very good dog. “June Moon” and other writing by Daniel McGinn will appear in the Silver Birch Press SUMMER ANTHOLOGY — a collection of poetry and prose by over 70 authors from around the world — available in June 2013.

PAINTING: “Under the Silver Moon,” Chinese ink and color on Korean paper by James Tan. Find the painting online at artincanada.com.

Sky Bear, Mohawk Indian Legend

SKY BEAR
Mohawk Indian Legend

Long ago,
three hunters and their little dog
found the tracks of a giant bear.
They followed those tracks
all through the day
and even though it was almost dark
they did not stop, but continued on.
They saw that bear now, climbing up
a hill, which glittered with new-fallen snow.
They ran hard to catch it,
but the bear was too fast.
They ran and they ran, climbing
up and up until one of the hunters said,
“Brothers, look down.”
They did and saw they
were high above Earth.
That bear was Sky Bear,
running on through the stars.
Look up now
and you will see her,
circling the sky.

…from THE EARTH UNDER SKY BEAR’S FEET: Native American Poems of the Land, a storybook for children 4-8 by Joseph Bruchac, with illustrations by Thomas Locker (Puffin, 1998), available at Amazon.com.

Blue Moon on August 31, 2012!

On August 31, 2012, look up into the sky and catch a glimpse of the last blue moon until July 2015! As lovers of lunar trivia know, a blue moon is the second full moon in the same calendar month. (The month’s other full moon occurred on August 2nd.)

Let’s celebrate by featuring a favorite tune about the moon. (Lyrics listed below — just sing along in your mind. I know you know this tune — first published in 1934.)

BLUE MOON

by Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart

Blue moon,
you saw me standing alone
without a dream in my heart
without a love on my own.

Blue moon,
you knew just what I was there for
you heard me saying a prayer for
somebody I realy could care for.

And then there suddenly appeared before me,
the only one my arms will ever hold
I heard somebody whisper, “Please adore me.”
and when I looked,
the moon had turned to gold.

Blue moon,
now I’m no longer alone
without a dream in my heart
without a love of my own.

Photo: Marius G. Mihalache, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED